Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Luckily, the sexy grump of a doctor wasn’t there to watch as I started my car this time.
Unluckily, I needed gas, and I always got a little anxious when I had to put fuel in my tank with it running.
But no surprises—or explosions—came my way and I arrived at the location of my AirTag within twenty minutes of leaving the hospital.
I came to a stop at a set of double gates and looked beyond the gates to the building nestled in the middle of the large lot.
A barndominium, by the looks of it.
There were tracks that led around to the back of the building, which was likely where people parked when they were here.
I bit my lip, wondering whether I should announce myself or not, but then decided against that.
My mother would just hide the money or refuse to come out.
This way, at least she would be surprised…
Four
The year I was born is getting a little far on that scrolly thing.
—Chevy’s secret thoughts
CHEVY
The last thing I wanted to do was go to a club meeting.
Nothing against my Truth Teller club brothers, but I needed to talk to my own brother.
And that wouldn’t happen if we were both at a club meeting.
Which was why I was here early.
I needed to talk to him, and I knew that he’d be here.
When we were young, both Copper and I had worked in a shop that was owned by the Truth Tellers MC.
That’s where we fell in love with club life.
Club life wasn’t for everyone.
But for Copper and me, we’d both been enraptured.
Having a whole crew of men always at your back, no matter what?
That was an intoxicating feeling, especially when you had a father like we did.
“Hey, brother,” Cutter drawled as he watched me pull up.
I was one of four bikes parked behind the barndo that we’d made into a clubhouse.
One of the bikes was Cutter, another Copper, who was nowhere in sight, and the last belonging to our club president, Webber.
Webber was on the phone in the middle of the backyard, throwing his one free hand in the air in anger.
“What’s that about?” I asked.
“His ex-wife being a bitch, like always,” Cutter said. “What’s going on with Copper and you? Keely called.”
Keely was my baby sister, and the one good thing that was always constant in my life.
I loved her with my whole heart, but I was glad she wasn’t here right now.
I didn’t want to yell at her.
“I’ll tell you and Copper at the same time,” I responded. “Come on.”
I found Copper at the bar in the middle of the room as we made our way inside, and he narrowed his eyes at me the moment he saw me.
“I’m not sleeping with her and have never slept with her,” I promised him.
His eyes narrowed. “Sure, because that’s what it looked like.”
I scrubbed at my eyes. “I swear to you, I haven’t had anything to do with her in an intimate way, ever. I only ever helped take care of her since you told me to.”
He frowned. “What?”
“What what?” I asked, confused now right along with him.
“I never told you to take care of her,” he explained. “So what do you mean, like I told you to?”
“You specifically said, right when you went to prison that first day before you left the courtroom, to take care of her,” I countered.
“I didn’t.” He was shaking his head. “What I was likely trying to do was warn you to watch out for her. Not take care of her.”
“Those are the same thing, bro,” Cutter cut in, agreeing with me. “I kind of got the same vibe, too, when you said it. Though my mind was on you leaving, and not what you were asking him.”
“No,” Copper disagreed, looking slightly amused. “They’re not.”
“How about you explain what you meant, then?” I suggested. “Because that’s not what I got out of your words.”
“You didn’t fuck her?” he asked.
Was that hope in his voice?
“No,” I replied. “Never even wanted to. In all honesty…”
“You can’t stand her,” Cutter cut in.
Well, I didn’t exactly like her.
Sometimes I felt like she was a leech, but Copper had asked me to take care of her, so I had.
“I was warning you,” Copper explained. “Reign is a good girl but…”
“But…” I pushed.
“But I swear to Christ, she makes up all sorts of illnesses and is convinced that she has them.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want you to fall for her sob story. I didn’t want either one of you dealing with her shit when you didn’t need to. I love her to death, but she’s fucking exhausting. I’ve been gone all these years, yet I still remember this feeling, and it’s not good.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Like Munchausen?”
That was a new voice.
Webber.
“What?” we all asked at once.
“Munchausen,” Webber repeated. “Had a guy have it where I was growing up. His mother took him to the emergency room for everything. One time, he sneezed, and she freaked out and left me there at their house. He came home hours later and said that he had brain cancer or something, and he wouldn’t be able to play with me anymore. A year later, he was miraculously cured by something that his mom gave him out of her garden. But it was a continuous pattern. He had brain cancer, then some super rare form of osteoporosis. I remember at eighteen, he left town and didn’t look back. I ran into him in Florida years later. He was happy with kids. He told me his mom had that.”